This month I want to expand a little bit on the last item we are called to remember, recognizing we have a unique kingdom purpose.  It is a universal human desire to know the purpose for which God created us. But discovering, and realizing, that purpose can often prove to be elusive for many of us.  The life story of Joseph, son of Jacob and great-grandson of Abraham, is a fascinating account of God revealing, in a dramatic way, His kingdom plan and purpose for an individual.  It begins with God revealing His plan for Joseph’s life in a couple of dreams and then chronicles the journey to its fulfillment.  The story is captivating for a couple of reasons but primarily it connects with our longing to fulfill God’s plan and purpose for our own lives.  Inherent in every person is the God-given desire to fulfill their destiny, God’s purpose for their lives, and to create a legacy that endures.  God speaks to us today, through the inspired words of Scripture, and calls each of us to a similar journey of faith.

The historical account of how God worked in Joseph’s life (Genesis chapters 37-50) also reminds us that we must become people of sufficient faith and character that God is able to fulfill His plans and purposes through us.  Most likely, we are not the people we need to be, fully understanding our covenant relationship with God (identity, obedience), so that we can live out the good works He has prepared in advance for us (Ephesians 2:10).  We are all about the destination and God is more concerned with the journey.

In addition to studying Genesis 37-50, I would recommend reading Bruce Wilkinson’s book, The Dream Giver to help implement the major teachings that God would have for us.  The book begins with a modern-day parable, a story about “Ordinary, a Nobody who leaves the Land of Familiar to pursue his Big Dream.”  Ordinary soon discovers that while it is exhilarating to receive a Big Dream from the Dream Giver, realizing that dream requires large doses of faith, courage, perseverance and a willingness to surrender all to the Dream Giver.  Using the Exodus account as a backdrop Wilkinson describes the process that God takes each of us through as we pursue our God-given dreams.

The story is a delightfully quick paced review of the journey that one must take if we are to realize God’s plan for our lives, a pursuit that leads to both purpose and fulfillment in life.  Much of the story’s appeal comes from the ease in which we can replace Ordinary’s story with our own.  Our God-given desire that will not go away, the temptation to doubt and despair of God’s faithfulness in times of trial and the giants (fear, comfort, security) that must be overcome if we are to experience the dream.  Finally, there is that act of surrender when we give back to God the dream that He placed within us, trusting Him with the how, when, and maybe if, of the dream’s fulfillment.

The last chapters of the book include many practical tips on discovering God’s big dream for you, how to overcome the obstacles that are sure to arise and avoiding the devastating effect that unbelief has on realizing your dream.  This short little book will inspire you to dream once again and give you the tools required to see your dream become reality.

He also (page 70) identifies “a pattern that is repeated throughout the Bible whenever God’s people reach for their Dream and attempt great things for Him.  In almost every instance they:

1. Become aware of a personal Dream or calling, deciding to pursue it.

2. Face fear as they leave a place of comfort.

3. Encounter opposition from those around them.

4. Endure a season of difficulty that tests their faith.

5. Learn the importance of surrender and consecration to God.

6. Fight the Giants that stand between them and the fulfillment of their Dream.

7. Reach their full potential as they achieve their Dream and bring honor to God.

I believe God desires each of us to experience the joy and satisfaction that comes as a result of knowing our life purpose.  In this season where we are remembering for the purpose of repentance and being restored, consider spending some of your devotional time in Genesis 37-50 and see what God stirs in your heart.  The Dream Giver book is also an easy read that will put practical steps to your journey of discovery.  It will be well worth your investment of time and energy.  

Understanding with our mind but not believing in our heart- There is a night and day difference between understanding something and believing it.  And to understand that God loves us is a great beginning but it must become a belief that informs our heart.  Romans 5:5 says “the love of God has been poured within our hearts by the Holy Spirit.”  Developing new godly beliefs, and meditating on them until our hearts are convinced will transform what we know into what we believe.

Willful disobedience- One of the consequences of sin is it grieves the Holy Spirit and creates a separation between us and God.   In Psalm 51 David confesses his sin and acknowledges the separation it has created between him and God with language like “do not cast me away from Your presence” and “do not take your Holy Spirit from me” but “restore to me the joy of Your salvation.  Sin doesn’t change the fact that God loves us but it does hinder our experience of it.   Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any hidden sin, confess it and be restored to a fresh experience of God’s love and forgiveness.

Misinterpreting present circumstances- We are tempted to doubt God’s love for us when we encounter trials, hardship or unexpected tragedy.  This temptation is grounded in a false expectation, which is really a lie or ungodly belief.  The lie suggests that as a follower of Jesus we should never experience any of the negative consequences that sometimes come our way as a result of living in a world that has been corrupted by sin.  The author of the book of Hebrews reminds that sometimes our difficult circumstances are actually God disciplining us as legitimate sons and daughters (Hebrews 12:5-11).  In those times hardship and trials are proof of His love rather than a sign He no longer loves us.  God’s love is defined for us when Jesus died for our sins, not by our current circumstances, pleasant or unpleasant.

Undisciplined in controlling our thoughts and emotions- We have many thoughts during any given day, with some of them being automatic negative thoughts driven by the ungodly beliefs we entertain.   As we receive and contemplate those lies negative emotions like fear, anger, resentment, bitterness, and suspicion begin to wash over us, thus replacing love, joy, peace and other fruits of the Holy Spirit.  Part of warfare it to take “every thought captive unto the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).  Becoming more disciplined in our thought life and examining where that idea is coming and whether it is true or false is essential to experiencing God’s love on a daily basis.

Reflecting on God’s Truth

1.       The starting place is to personalize the apostle Paul’s prayers in Ephesians chapter 1 and chapter 3.  Ask God to move what you know to be true in your mind and make it a belief of your heart.  Pray each of these prayers until you experience the Holy Spirit pouring out Christ’s love in our heart.

2.      Can you relate to any of the above blockages?  If so, pursue the suggested remedies and anything else the Holy Spirit reveals to you personally.

3.      Be sure to share a posting on the blog with any insights you receive so that we can also benefit from your learning.

In stark contrast to this mental image of a god hunting to punish someone stands the true Jesus.  A loving God who takes on flesh in order to become Savior of the world.  As the boy Jesus becomes a man, He enters His years of public ministry.  He continues to humble Himself and extends His invitation to every human being to come and be reconciled to God.  One such occurrence comes in Matthew 11:28-30.  We are not given any details about His body position but it is not difficult to imagine Jesus standing with His arms extended saying, “Come to Me all you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”  The mental image is not of a stern, heavenly taskmaster who delights in raining on our parade and meting out punishment.  But rather a gracious and loving God who gave His life to pay for our sins and who wants us to experience the fullness of life for which we were created.

The invitation that Jesus extends is for those who are weary.  The word we translate as weary is a present active participle and might better be translated “those who are laboring.”  Contextually we know that the book of Matthew was written primarily for the Jewish people and its author presents an abundance of evidence that proves that Jesus was the promised Messiah of the Old Testament.  We also know that many of the Jewish people of Jesus’ day, especially the scribes and Pharisees, believed that one’s standing before God was determined by how well they kept the Law of God, the Torah.

This practice of keeping the Law, making sure that you did not even inadvertently break the Law, led to the development of another set of laws called the Mishnah.  These laws served as a hedge of protection around the Torah.  It is generally accepted that there were 365 negative commandments and 248 positive commandments for a total of 613 commandments from the 5 books of the Law, plus those that were added by the Pharisees of Jesus’ day.  In Jesus day, the rabbinical teachings had become so massive, so demanding and all encompassing, that they prescribed standards and formulas for virtually every human activity.

It was near impossible to learn all these traditions and certainly it was impossible to keep them.  Yet they believed that to find favor with God, to enter the kingdom of heaven, they needed to have a righteousness derived from keeping the Law. The people were left exhausted trying to fulfill an impossible obligation.  The sin of the Pharisees, and the shortcoming of their teaching, was not in the attention that they gave to the commandments of God but in their trusting of the goodness, righteousness, that they believed was generated from their keeping God’s commandments.

Before we are too hard on the Pharisees of the Jesus’ day, we may want to take a moment and reflect on our own lives.  The sin of the Pharisees is alive and well today.  In the polling of Americans, the overwhelming majority believe that they will go to heaven upon their death because they have lived a pretty good life.  They have determined what they believe to be a proper moral code and more or less have sought to live by it.  Their trusting in it is no different than those who were seeking to live up to the law in Jesus day.  It too leads to a weariness or dullness of the soul.

In the church of Jesus Christ, the same behavior exists but it is not as overt.  We say the right words and pretend to experience God’s peace as a result of living in His grace but inwardly we labor, strive and seek to find favor with God and acceptance from others based upon our performance. A condition we call the orphan heart.  When we perform well, we feel good about ourselves but the downside to living by our performance is that we never quite measure up.   This is especially true when comparing ourselves to God’s standards for righteousness.  We look at where we are spiritually and where we would like to be and the seemingly ever widening gap makes us tired, maybe even tired enough to quit trying.

The apostle Paul discovered this kind of thinking in the church at Galatia and addressed it strongly in Galatians 3:1-5.  Oh, foolish Galatians!  Who has cast an evil spell on you?  For the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death was made clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross.  Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses?  Of course not!  You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ.  How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?  Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely, it was not in vain was it?  I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law?  Of course not!  It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ.

Like the thief in the opening story we run from God because we do not know His true nature and character.  But in re-examining the implications of the Christmas story we can undo our wrong thinking.  In the person of Jesus Christ, you have the greatest cheerleader you will ever want to meet. He created you, and He knows everything there is to know about you.  He knows all your strengths, all your weaknesses, every experience you have ever had, good or bad and He believes in you because He has a plan and purpose for your life.  But you have to accept the invitation to become His disciple, His follower.  The promise when we do is we can learn from Him and become like Him in our beliefs, attitudes and actions.  It is then, and only then, we find true rest for our souls.  May you have a truly blessed Christmas holiday as you consider again the amazing story of Jesus, Son of God, who came to earth and extends the best invitation we will ever receive, come to Me.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.   

Rockne scoured the city of South Bend, Indiana (Notre Dame's hometown), and hand-picked 100 of the largest men he could find—each at least six-foot-five and 300 pounds. He put the men in Fighting Irish uniforms and, at game time, marched them onto the field ahead of the real team. (Obviously, this was before the days of limited rosters and eligibility restrictions.)

As USC watched those giants line up on the sidelines, they forgot about their talent and their undefeated record, and they began mentally preparing themselves for a beating. Though none of the specially recruited men played during the game, their presence on the sidelines was enough to knock Southern Cal's concentration off balance. Knute Rockne's trick had worked; he had intimidated the Trojan players into giving up before the game even started.

The story is illustrative of how the devil seeks to intimidate and discourage believers in Jesus Christ by tempting them to believe that his lies are truth and that he has the authority, and power, to hold people captive.  People are tempted to believe that sin, frustration, and brokenness is just a way of life and there is no real hope for meaningful change.  In reality, the Lord Jesus Christ defeated the devil at the cross and by virtue of our relationship with Jesus we have been given the authority over the devil and his angels.  It was Jesus who said in Luke 10:19, “behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy.” 

In the preface to his book, The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis writes, “there are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.”

We must come to believe, and then act as if we believe, that we are in a great spiritual battle.  That each and every day we battle against our old nature, the world system and the devil, all of which are seeking to lead us out of our covenant relationship with God and enticing us to live in another kingdom (under the rule of another).  The devil hates Jesus Christ and all who claim His name, and he will do anything that he can to destroy us and the church of Jesus Christ.

In order to do this, we need to have a shift in the way that we view the world.  We must acknowledge that there is an unseen reality that cannot be discovered by the five senses because it is spiritual and not physical.  We need to come to understand, and believe, that “we are not human (physical) beings having a spiritual experience but spiritual beings having a human (physical) experience.” (Pierre Teilhard de Chardin)

The apostle Paul also tells us in 2 Corinthians 2:11 that “no advantage can be taken of us” if “we are not ignorant of his (the devil’s) schemes.”  The devil has specific (time-tested) strategies that he continues to use today with great effectiveness.  Some of the major ones are as follows.

Strategies of the devil

• Seeks to cause us to act independently of God, doing of our own will (Genesis 3:4-5).

• Seeks to incite us to fear and unbelief, the opposite of faith (Numbers 14).

• Creates circumstances and situations to incite the old nature (James 4:4).

• Casts doubt upon the Word of God, creating confusion, discouragement, and depression.

• Tempts us to lie, become prideful and harbor an unforgiving spirit (2 Corinthians 2:10; 1 Timothy 3:6)

The beginning place to finding freedom is to recognize that we have a personal enemy, who knows our weaknesses and seeks to exploit them.  Then to adopt that battle position that is described in James 4:7, “submit therefore to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. The only power the devil has over us is the power we give him by giving him place through sin and by believing his lies.   We need to believe God’s truth rather than the devil’s lies and when we do we will have victory over the enemy.  Let’s not be intimidated by the enemy’s bluster but encouraged by the Lord’s faithfulness and His power and authority.  Submit and resist, then freedom will be yours.

I have already alluded to the suggestion that I believe we are guilty of this in the church today as well.  We tell people, believe in Jesus, read your Bible, attend church, join a small group, go on this retreat, attend this seminar, operate in the prophetic, heal the sick, worship in this way and your life will be transformed.  But we do all those things and find we are essentially the same as we were five years ago.  Except now we are disillusioned and wonder can I really expect to experience the kind of life that the Bible promises to every follower of Jesus Christ?   An abundant life filled love, joy, peace, meaning and purpose in spite of current life circumstances?

The answer is yes, true spiritual transformation, becoming more Christlike, is within reach of every believer in Jesus Christ.  However, we must understand and cooperate with God’s established pathway for renewal.  I will lay out my understanding of how I believe God works spiritual transformation in a future article but this month I want to begin with listing some of the major obstacles to our ever getting to God’s pathway.  If we don’t resolve these issues first, we will never truly embrace God’s way.  Some of these issues are as follows.

We believe that actually obeying Jesus is optional- In many churches there is a 2-tiered approach to the message of the Gospel.  Often, the implied message is one can “receive” Jesus by professing belief in Him, attend church, read your bible once in a while, pray occasionally and you are a follower of Christ.  The main emphasis is on the forgiveness of sins and the promise of heaven one day after you are done living your life here on earth.  While the activities of discipleship, actually following Jesus by hearing His voice and obeying Him, are optional pursuits for the zealous and the professionals.  The problem with this thinking is the New Testament knows nothing of it. 

The Gospel message presented in the New Testament is about our opportunity to live in the kingdom of God, now, and the way we do that is by becoming a follower, an apprentice, of Jesus.  Beginning with John the Baptist the message was “repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2).  The invitation always has been that those who would follow Jesus, become His disciples, do so by leaving everything to follow Him, and embracing His teaching and His ways of living.  The word disciple literally means learner or apprentice and speaks of us actually becoming like Jesus in thought, character and behavior. To reject this understanding, cuts us off from the only real source of change, Jesus, who has the ability to effect real and lasting transformation in our lives.  Responding to the Gospel is to accept the invitation to follow Jesus by doing what He says and live in His kingdom now, today, not some day in the future.

We never correctly define what spiritual transformation looks like- When asked most people define transformation in terms of knowledge and behaviors.  You need to know certain things, profess certain beliefs, and you need to behave in a certain way.  Normally this gets defined in terms professing to believe what Jesus taught us to believe and acting as Jesus did when He was present among us.  This thinking was popularized by the expression what would Jesus do?

This is of course correct as far as it goes but as a definition or goal it is lacking a very important dimension, the piece that addresses the state of one’s heart or inner life.  God directed spiritual transformation is the actual changing of one’s heart to be in alignment with our professed beliefs so that Christ like behavior comes as a natural outgrowth of who we are.  To focus on the right behavior is to set up a never-ending battle for the will between the old nature that is weighted down with all kinds of sinful desires and the standard of Christ like righteousness.  It is this lifestyle that Jesus condemned in the Pharisees and religious leaders of His day.  The practical outworking of this focus on changing behavior is to become tired, frustrated and discouraged with one’s spiritual life.  To anyone who finds themselves here Jesus says, “come to Me, all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

We believe spiritual transformation should be easy- Given the culture we live in and the rhetoric of leaders who paint a picture of an easy journey, it is easy to get sucked into the implied message that Jesus will do it all.  The promotional messages say the completion of 6 steps to a happy and fulfilled marriage actually make it so.  Or eight easy steps to financial prosperity and you will never need to worry about money again.  The messages are so inviting because we desperately want them to be true.  You add to that when we are speaking about spiritual things we know God is involved and that transformation is His work, we misapply the doctrine of God’s grace and assume there is nothing for us to do.  We expect we just need to sit back and let God do His thing.  We want it to be easy so the message finds a receptive audience.  Genuine spiritual transformation is God’s domain and happens by His grace but this does not mean there is nothing for us to do or it will come easily.  Most of the time we have to fight the good fight of faith in order to appropriate the abundant life Jesus has promised each of us.

We believe spiritual transformation should be quick- Like the idea that transformation should be easy this thought is driven more by exposure to our culture than a study of the Scriptures.    We live in a time when we don’t have to wait for much anymore.  Most of the things we desire come in a matter of seconds, minutes or sometimes days.  Waiting longer than that for anything is rare and usually we don’t need to do much to have it happen. But when it comes to life change, long held, core ungodly beliefs, along with the hurts and iniquity that secure them, will not disappear because we hear a sermon or attend a retreat.  Rather they are replaced over time as our minds are renewed and our hearts are healed through meditation on God’s truth at the direction of the Holy Spirit.  Genuine spiritual transformation can happen in a single encounter with Jesus but that is the exception and not the rule.

We try and do it alone- It is common in our culture to take an individualistic approach to life, an approach that comes naturally to most.  We want to decide on our own, do it our way and not have to be concerned with the thoughts and concerns of others.  Sometimes we are successful, or at least appear to be successful but most of the time we fail or fall short of what we could have accomplished if we worked together with others.  The rule of synergy often applies in life.

When it comes to experiencing life change, of any kind, being in community with others often determines the difference between success and failure.  It has been proven time and again that addictions are best broken when sharing life with others.  Spiritual transformation is similar in that very few people can take a new truth, receive it, begin to live out of it and follow that through to it becoming a core life value without the input and encouragement of others.  The enemy of our souls loves to see people isolated and struggling for is then they are truly vulnerable.  Genuine spiritual transformation happens best under the direction of Holy Spirit guided shepherd or mentor and in the context of a community of people seeking to live the same values and lifestyle.

Most of us have ways of thinking, ways of reacting to people and circumstances that remind us we are not yet fully mature followers of Jesus.  Issues like anger, unworthiness, unhealthy desires, worry, anxiety and the list goes on.  They are often deep, core life issues that we have tried for years to address by doubling down on self-effort and trying one more human remedy.  But it has ended in failure often enough that we now believe real life change is not possible.  Could it be your thinking and therefore your expectations have been shaped by one of the above beliefs?  If so, your success has been sabotaged before you begin.

In John:8 Jesus reminds us of His promises “if we abide in His truth, the truth will make us free” and if the Son shall make you free you shall be free indeed” (John 8:32, 36).  True spiritual transformation is available to us today as we choose to become a disciple of Jesus, living in the His kingdom by obeying Him.

On Monday afternoon June 18th I had a successful L3-L4 laminectomy to relieve the pressure on my spinal cord.  My long-term prognosis is very good and I should be back to my normal routine in several months.  Praise God!  The whole event has provided the backdrop for several life lessons that have positively reshaped my relationship with God.  In the following paragraph,s I want to highlight a couple of them that might help you in your spiritual journey as well.

My first takeaway in the whole ordeal was the reminder of how quickly life can change, either in a positive or negative way, and what little control we have over certain dimensions of our lives. Literally overnight, without any clearly recognizable signs that change was coming, my life took a dramatic, and life altering, turn. I went to bed with a little bit of a sore back but the soreness was explainable given my recent circumstances and activity level.  There were subtle signs but they were all explainable.  The apostle James addresses this human tendency we all have to become overly confident about our future.  “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow, we shall go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.’  Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow.  You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away” (James 4:13-14).  God is sovereign, infinite and dependent on no one and we are not.  It is pride and foolishness that lead us to believe we control our tomorrows.

The second area of learning for me had to do with us praying and trusting God to answer.  In brief, I ran into insurance issues on the first day and was caught in between the hospital and the insurance company.  The details are not really important but the bottom line was the insurance rules and the hospital rules didn’t mesh and as a result insurance didn’t want to cover part of my stay in the hospital.  This left me as the patient responsible for several thousand dollars in medical expenses.  We immediately began to pray, and asked others to pray, asking God to move and for the expenses to be covered by insurance.  Each day I would ask hospital personnel if the issue had been resolved and the only word I would get is they were working on it but since it was the weekend not much could be done.  I would not find out until the day I was discharged that God had answered our prayer and those expenses would be covered by insurance.

Over the five days that we waited to hear God revealed a very important truth, that is our trust in His willingness and ability to protect, care for and provide for us is not limited to the answering of a specific prayer in a particular way.  Our prayer was that the insurance would cover the expense but what God showed me was my trust in Him needed to be bigger than His answering that prayer.  In other words, God’s ability to provide for me in that situation was not limited to His helping us resolve the insurance issue.  He could have covered that expense by prompting someone to give us the money, the hospital forgoing the charges or any of a number of creative ways of providing.  We tend to pray, and attach our trust in God to, specific prayers and if those prayers are not answered in the way or in the time we expect, our trust in God is shaken.  Here a Scripture that comes to mind is Proverbs 3:5-6, “trust in the Lord with all your and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.”  We pray based upon what we know and believe to be the best outcome for us and generally in ways that are most comfortable for us.  But we need to give God the latitude to answer in the way and time that He knows is best for us and is consistent with the work He is currently doing in our lives.

If we pay attention, there are life lessons to be learned virtually every day, but for sure in the major events of our lives.  They are lessons that transform us often in ways that we don’t understand and can’t articulate.  But we must learn to recognize them and then receive them as God’s truth for us.  What has God been teaching you lately?  It might be that life has been hard or joyful, maybe it has taken an unexpected turn.  Ask the Holy Spirit what it is that He wants you to learn and allow that truth to deepen and strengthen your relationship with Jesus.  I think you will be glad you did!

The issue of idolatry is often difficult for modern day Christians to get their minds around and as a result, they don’t believe they are involved in it.  No doubt this is in large part due to the mental image that comes to mind when the words idol or idolatry are used.  Many, immediately think of wooden or metal statues formed to represent the gods of ancient world religions.  With that as their standard, they mistakenly assume they are not involved with idolatry because they don’t have any idols laying around their home or office.  And they certainly aren’t worshipping anyone else’s idols either.

But the truth is idolatry is not limited to wooden or metal statues but can literally be anything that captures our heart and becomes a higher priority than our relationship with God.  It could be one’s love of sports, career, clothes, money, romantic relationships, even good things like marriage, kids, grandkids, ministry calling or sacrificially serving others.  Again, it can literally be anything that captures our heart or we put your trust in for our current or future well-being. 

In his book, Counterfeit Gods, Tim Keller offers some reflection questions to get at whether we have allowed idols to get set up in our hearts. He says,

"the true god of your heart is what your thoughts effortlessly go to when there is nothing else demanding your attention.  What do you enjoy daydreaming about?  What do you habitually think about to get joy and comfort in the privacy of your heart?  How do you spend your money?  Our money flows most effortlessly toward your heart’s greatest love."

David Powlison, writing in The Journal of Biblical Counseling says,

has something or someone besides Jesus Christ taken title to your heart’s functional trust, preoccupation, loyalty, service, fear, and delight?  To who or what do you look for life-sustaining stability, security, and acceptance?”

Our answers will often reveal idols or at the very least inordinate affections that are in violation of the first and greatest commandment.  Jesus said “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the great and foremost commandment.”  (Matthew 22:37-38) Anything that usurps this first love is idolatry.

The apostle John ends his first letter with the admonition, “little children, guard yourselves from idols.”  It seems like a strange way to end his letter until you remember the content of the letter.  He spends several chapters highlighting how sin is inconsistent with love and the one who loves God will refrain from sin.  He also knows the human heart is given to the establishment of idols. It is almost like an idol factory, making idols whenever there is a vacuum.  John says we are to “guard ourselves” and the best way to do that is practice loving God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength.  Secondarily, we remain vigilant in examining the affections of our heart on a regular basis to prevent even good things from becoming idols.  These practices will go a long way in enabling us to live the abundant life Jesus died to give us!

The ten plagues that preceded their deliverance were an over the top demonstration of Yahweh’s power over the so-called gods of the land.  Each plague demonstrated in a visual and dramatic way the Lord has no equal and He alone is worthy of our wholehearted worship and devotion.  Even in the face of seemingly impossible circumstances. Said another way it was another reminder that God is fully capable of keeping His promises, even when circumstances suggest otherwise.  And yet in spite of having just experienced God’s supernatural deliverance, when it mattered most, the people faltered in fear and unbelief.  The report of the spies sent in to do reconnaissance sums it up for us.

We went into the land where you sent us, and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.  Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are very large; and moreover we saw the descendants of Anak (giant sized people) …and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight. (Numbers 13:27-28, 33)

In the terms of an overused contemporary expression, it was an epic failure!

The temptation I suppose is to just write it off as a piece of unfortunate ancient history.  But the apostle Paul says not so fast.  He writes, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we have something to learn here.  In 1 Corinthians 10 he references the Exodus and then writes the following, “these things happened as examples to us,” “that we would not crave evil things” and “they were written for our instruction” (1 Corinthians 10:6,11).  Clearly, they have been written in order that we would not repeat the same mistakes.

As new covenant believers in Jesus Christ, we have been promised, by God Himself, our own Promised Land, “flowing with milk and honey.”  Jesus called it the abundant life (John 10:10).  And like our old covenant predecessors, the only way to have that life is to rise up in faith, overcome our fears and defeat the adversity that co-exists alongside all of God’s promises.  Our first mistake often is to believe that God’s abundant life for us will come easily and without significant sacrifice on our part.  We need to be confirmed in our true identity as a follower of Jesus, we need to learn to trust God in every circumstance and we need to become skilled in spiritual warfare to overcome the enemy. 

Finally, we need to choose to believe that God is going to make good on all His promises.  In the heat of the moment, when the pressure is really on, we often act as if we believe we don’t have a choice or maybe we have conditioned ourselves to really believe that we don’t have a choice?  Reason, common sense, logic and outside counsel all seem like the better, maybe safer, choice?  Most likely it seemed this way to the Israelites as well.  In his letter to the Hebrews, chapter 3, the author references the same exodus event and uses words like rebellion, disobedience, and unbelief to describe the people’s failure.  These are all words of choice.  We choose to rebel, we choose to disobey and we choose not to take God at His Word.  We have lots of excuses and more spiritual ways of trying to explain it away but the issue at its core is there needs to be a decision.  We need to always remember it is a choice to believe in God’s promises.

Many of us look upon our current life situation and we know we are not living the abundant life that Jesus died to give us.  There are times when we think we have it but they don’t last very long.  Or maybe we have never experienced the superabundant, supernatural life that Jesus and the author New Testament writers describe.  Either way, the remedy is the same.  We start by asking ourselves are we taking God at His Word and believing His promises, even in the most difficult circumstances?  It isn’t the only question that needs to be answered but it is one of them. 

God’s plan for your life, the supernatural abundant life, cannot be realized by remaining comfortable and playing life safe but choosing to believe God.  Let’s each of us take that first step today and experience the Promised Land life! 

While it was relatively easy to do all of that in the context of an activation seminar it becomes much harder once we return to our normal routines.  As a response to this natural tendency we all have to disengage, I challenged our ministry team to stay engaged with their gift.  I suggested one way to do this would be intentional about picking one person, praying for them and then sharing either in person or by audio text file what they heard God say.  It can be done as a part of our normal devotional life or we can dedicate a special time.  Either way works, the important part is that we do it.  And I would not limit our intentionality to the gift of prophecy.  If your gift is to teach, look for opportunities to teach.  If serving is your gift, look for opportunities to serve, and so on.  For a fuller study of all the gifts take a look at I Corinthians chapters 12 and 14, along with Romans chapter 12.  It will be a rich time of study.

We are in a season where God is mobilizing the church and wants every follower of Jesus to be operating in their gifts.  We each have a very important part to play in what God wants to do at this time in history.  Do you know what your gifts are?  Are you allowing God to minister to others through you and the spiritual gifts He has given you?  We are missing out on the abundant life that Jesus died to give us if our answers are not yes to both of those questions.  Kindle afresh the gift that was placed within you and experience the joy of being used by the Holy Spirit to bless, heal and restore others.

This year’s spring retreat has as its focus being “rooted and grounded” in God’s love.  It comes from Paul’s prayer for the church at Ephesus when he prays they might be “rooted and grounded in love” in order that they might “comprehend… and know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge” (Ephesians 3:17-19).  It is the blending of two metaphors that highlight our need to be “rooted”, drawing our life from a fresh experience of God’s love.  And being “grounded,” building our lives upon the foundation of God’s agape love.  Our experience of the Christian life depends on our ability to live out these two foundational truths. 

As I have encouraged people to consider making a retreat of this nature, most have objected by saying, “I could never go that long without talking.”  Others look back at me with eyes that say “why would I want to do that?”  To the first objection, I tell them keeping the silence isn’t anywhere near as difficult or awkward as it sounds.  Once into the retreat if feels quite natural and even the most extroverted of people find they enjoy the solitude, the unhindered alone time with God.  For most, it is something they have never experienced before in life.  As to the “why would I want to do that” question, I would offer the following for your consideration. 

Hearing God’s Voice

One of the great privileges of being a follower of Jesus Christ is that He promises to guide us through life if we will let Him.  In John 16:13 Jesus says the Holy Spirit who has been given to indwell us “will speak to us what He hears and what is to come.”  The pre-existent God, who knows all things, the beginning and the end, has promised to lead us through life.  It is an incredible promise that many followers of Christ never learn to trust.  Yet the foolishness of ignoring this gift is like finding yourself lost in a strange city, filled with dead-end streets and big city dangers and not using your car’s GPS system to lead you to safety.

Each retreat we spend many hours over a three-day period asking God to give us spiritual ears to hear and spiritual eyes to see.  By the end of the weekend, most are hearing without difficulty as God speaks uniquely to them about the circumstances of their lives.  Once they have had the experience on retreat it is much easier to hear once back in the midst of their daily routine.

Knowing Him Better

Each of us has a mental image of God and believe certain things to be true about Him.  Some of what we believe is accurate, though incomplete, while other things we hold to be true about God are simply incorrect. These incomplete, or sometimes incorrect, understandings cause us to make poor choices and hinder our ability to walk in faith.  In addition, the devil has used these false beliefs to create fear and anxiety in our lives, part of His plan to rob, kill and destroy.  (John 10:10)

Because each of the guided meditations for the retreat is based on Scripture, the Holy Spirit has the opportunity to ground us in truth while He works transformation in our hearts.  We consider the many attributes of God, like His love, mercy and compassion which replace the mental image of a stern, heavenly taskmaster that many grew up believing in.  It was A. W. Tozer who said, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”  It is essential that we think rightly about God, and after every retreat weekend we leave with a fuller, more accurate understanding of what God is like.

Experiencing God’s Love

For most church people the fact that God loves them is an idea.  It is a truth they have heard so many times they can even quote a Bible verse or two.  But that is all that it is, an idea, a truth, a doctrinal statement that is lodged in their minds as information.  But when they are sick their first response is not to turn to Jesus who loves them.  When they are facing a decision, and don’t know what to do, they don’t ask the God who loves them and promises to give wisdom to all people generously.  In short, when life happens they do not have an abiding sense of God’s peace and the certain knowledge that God is going to help them.  Maybe you can relate to one of these?  Your mind knows the truth, that God loves you and He will never leave or forsake you.  But your heart is telling you something else, like you are in real trouble here and its up to you to fix it.

Romans 5:5-8 reminds us that God’s love is not just an idea to be understood but a substantive truth that is to be experienced, on a daily basis.  It is a supernatural experience orchestrated by the Holy Spirit as we contemplate the ultimate expression of agape love, Jesus’ death on the cross.  While on retreat we have extended periods of time to meditate on the cross and receive the love of Jesus.  In so doing we move from understanding we are forgiven, accepted and belong to actually “knowing” in our hearts.  The result is being able to live with God’s peace, hope and confidence regardless of our circumstances.

Discerning God’s Plan

There are two universal questions that every human being wants to be answered.  Who am I?  Why am I here?  Whether a committed follower of Christ or a pre-Christian, everyone wants to know they have worth and value apart from what they do but they also desire to live for an eternal purpose, for something that goes beyond having wealth and position.

The answers to those questions go way deeper than should I be an accountant or a plumber?  An airline pilot, pastor or brain surgeon?  Worthy occupations all but only properly understood and fulfilled from a life filled with love, faith, humility and a servant’s heart.  There are universal callings, shared by every son and daughter of the King, that provide the foundation for our unique vocation.  On retreat, God shows us how we can grow in faith and character as we represent Him and His kingdom in the world we live in.  We leave the retreat with a renewed sense of our true identity and eternal purpose.

It is unfortunate that we live in a world where the words “life-changing” and “transformational” are often attributed to lesser experiences like losing a few pounds, buying a new car or going on a dream vacation.  For then we often grow jaded to all the testimonials making such promises   It is because of these experiences we knowing intuitive that their claims to a changed life will never come close to what we are hearing.  I can assure this invitation is different, not because I can guarantee a mountaintop experience that will instantly transform your life.  But because God has promised “everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds and to him who knocks it shall be opened to him” (Matthew 7:8)

Have you ever prayerfully considered making a retreat like the one I just described?  God is waiting to meet with you in order that you might be “rooted and grounded” in His love.  Our next Doorway to Discovery retreat is March 15-18, 2018 and you can register on our website at godslivingstones.org.  I hope it works for you to join us.

A close second was the discovery of the authority and power they have as a believer in Jesus Christ.  Scripture declares we are not victims but more than conquerors.  We are sons and daughters of the Creator of the universe, the One who gives and sustains life and gives it abundantly.  But we do have to choose to live like it, an act that comes only when we understand our God-given authority and power in Jesus Christ.  As we concluded the weekend retreat, I reminded people that it was not the end but the beginning of a new life for them.  And they didn’t have to be on a retreat weekend to continue experiencing more healing and freedom in their walk with God.

Their discoveries are ones that we all share.  I often find myself thinking, “I had no idea.”  It is a life principle that there is always more, more to learn and more to experience, especially when it comes to journeying with God.  And I often have to be reminded of my God-given authority and power.  We are not helpless victims in our struggles in life but operate from a position where our victory is guaranteed

As another way of helping people make those discoveries, we are offering a Restoring the Foundations, Hope, Healing and Freedom seminar on November 18, 2017, at Thanksgiving Church.  During the seminar, we explore the role of forgiveness in experiencing the abundant life.  We also consider the 4 problem areas that every life issue shares; generational iniquity, ungodly beliefs, soul/spirit hurts and demonic oppression.  Understanding this grid and learning how to use it to analyze our life issues, ensures a steady flow of personal revelation that results in life transformation.  There is often more to learn but there is always more to experience in the way of personal transformation and becoming more Christ-like.

If it has been a while since you have attended an RTF seminar you may want to consider coming to the November 18 event.  There is always something new to learn.  Even better would be to think through the people in your life that could really benefit from attending the seminar and learning to apply the Integrated Approach to Healing and Freedom to their own life.  Invite them to attend and tell them why they would want to come.  It is important to keep in mind people don’t know what they don’t know. We don’t do things until we have answered the why question and you may have to explain to them why they would want to come?

Again, the Hope Healing and Freedom seminar is November 18, 2017, at Thanksgiving Church, 3702 370 Plaza, Bellevue, NE.  The seminar runs from 8:30 am - 1 pm and features both teaching and an opportunity to experience group ministry.  The only cost for the seminar is the seminar workbook which is $10.  Advance registration is required and can be done through our website godslivingstones.org.  Hope to see you and your friends on the 18^th!

 Both positions betray a misunderstanding of the essential nature of God’s grace and how we experience it.  It is not works righteousness to re-affirm the importance, even necessity, of living a life of obedience as a response to the love and grace that we have already received from God.  Also, throughout church history, Christians have affirmed the essential nature of the historic Christian disciplines that enable us to hear God’s voice, receive His grace and be transformed into the image and likeness of Christ by the power of His Holy Spirit.

In his article “True (and False) Transformation” Pastor John Ortberg wrote in the Summer 2002 issue of Leadership Journal.

Significant human transformation always involves training, not just trying.  Spiritual transformation is a long-term endeavor. It involves both God and us. I liken it to crossing an ocean. Some people try, day after day, to be good, to become spiritually mature. That's like taking a rowboat across the ocean. It's exhausting and usually unsuccessful. 

Others have given up trying and throw themselves entirely on "relying on God's grace." They're like drifters on a raft. They do nothing but hang on and hope God gets them there.

Neither trying nor drifting are effective in bringing about spiritual transformation. A better image is the sailboat, which if it moves at all, it's a gift of the wind. We can't control the wind, but a good sailor discerns where the wind is blowing and adjusts the sails accordingly. 

Working with the Holy Spirit, which Jesus likened to the wind in John 3, means we have a part in discerning the winds, in knowing the direction we need to go, and in training our sails to catch the breezes that God provides.  That's true transformation.

Jesus has promised us abundant life, an experience of the Kingdom of God that is supernatural in both our understanding and our experience.  However, the transformed life that we all seek will not happen by our trying harder, nor will it happen by accident.  Substantive life change takes place by God’s grace as we meditate upon the Word of God, seek Him in prayer and worship and live communally with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

With these truths in mind I will be patterning our upcoming silent retreat weekend, November 9-12, 2017 at the St Benedict Center in Schuyler, NE after Richard Foster’s book The Celebration of Discipline.  The framework of the book will provide the backdrop for each the meditations for the weekend and will naturally lead us through a personal time of spiritual renewal that comes through training ourselves to cooperate with the Holy Spirit.

There are several companion books that I would also recommend that will further help prepare you for the retreat or your own personal growth.  For those who have the additional time and interest I would suggest the following:  Celebrating the Disciplines: A Journal Workbook to Accompany Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster and Kathryn Yanni, Richard Foster’s Study Guide for Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster and Spiritual Classics: Selected Readings for Individuals and Groups on the Twelve Spiritual Disciplines edited by Richard Foster and Emilie Griffin.

I have personally read, and used devotionally, each of these works and have found them to be immensely helpful as I have sought to grow in my relationship with Christ.  I have taught the book Celebration of Discipline many times and each time those who attended the course expressed their appreciation for the insightful, and practical, nature of Foster’s work, now considered by many to be a contemporary Christian classic.  When Christianity Today published their review of all the books published in the 20^th century, they considered this work to be in the top 100 of all books published in that 100 year period, which is high praise indeed. 

All this to say, I believe you too would profit immensely by joining us for retreat November 9-12, 2017.  You can register by going to our website godslivingstones.org and clicking on the silent retreat tab.  If you have any questions email at bruce@godslivingstones.org, otherwise I look forward to seeing you in November.  

Anyone who has been married for any length of time knows that the relationship between a husband and wife takes time, energy and attention. And it is generally accepted that one must “work” at keeping the marriage relationship vibrant, healthy and alive during the many seasons of life that a couple will experience. Daily times of uninterrupted communication where each is allowed to share their dreams, hopes and desires are considered essential, along with weekly date nights, weekends away and periodically, a marriage retreat or seminar. It is also accepted that one must “work” at becoming or remaining physically fit. Both medical science and experience have taught us that proper nutrition, aerobic exercise, along with a strength/flexibility regimen and adequate sleep are the building blocks to experiencing a healthy and energetic lifestyle.

Yet, when it comes to the spiritual life and maintaining a relationship with God that is personal, alive and growing, many Christians believe, or at least act as if, it will just happen. It is almost as though they believe that the classic spiritual disciplines of meditation, fasting, prayer, study of God’s Word etc. are at best unnecessary and at worst negate the transforming work of the Holy Spirit that comes to us by God’s grace. It is time that we re-affirm the necessity of living a disciplined life before God and that doing so actually puts us in a position where we are able to hear God’s voice, receive His grace and be transformed into the image and likeness of Christ by the power of His Holy Spirit. It is the devil’s lie that being intentional and disciplined in our relationship with God was only for the saints of old or for the legalists of our day who have yet to come to understand God’s love and grace. 

The apostle John records for us in Revelation 2:1-7 what the Lord Jesus had to say to the church at Ephesus, a group of believing Christians, devoted to the Word of God, concerned for holiness, hard working, God fearing. In contemporary terms they were a Bible believing, God fearing group of believers that were working hard for the good of the kingdom of God. But there was a problem, they had forsaken their first love, Jesus Christ. They had allowed other things, other people, other gods to take God’s rightful place in their hearts. This was a condition that the Lord would not tolerate and He calls them to repentance. It is also a condition that He will not tolerate within us. We must recognize that the Lord is calling us as members of the church to repent or turn from those things that have taken over His rightful place in our hearts, that position of being our first love. We must also recognize that the things that we need to repent of are not necessarily evil things but could be God’s good gifts to us that have captured out hearts. Things like family, career, retirement, status, power, prestige, security, comfort, along with leisure pursuits of golf, travel, gardening, cooking, reading and entertainment of varying kinds. The list is endless and unique to every individual.

In writing on this matter of the condition of one’s heart, the author A. W. Tozer describes 7 things that reveal the character of one’s heart;

• What we want the most
• What we think about the most
• The way we use our money
• What we do with our leisure time
• Whose company do we enjoy
• The things we laugh at
• The people and things that we admire

What is it that you dream about, what is the one thing that you desire above all else? God says if it isn’t Him you have left your first love and you need to repent. Further if you do not repent He is coming to remove your lamp-stand from its place and you will lose your ability to bear witness for Him and will cease to be a person God can use. God is calling each of us to repent, to turn from those things that have captured our hearts and restore Him to His rightful place as the first priority on our lives. In verse 7 of Revelation 2 Jesus says, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” It is God’s invitation for us to respond, to respond in repentance, faith and obedience that we all might enjoy eternal life.

This fall there are a number of adult opportunities that could serve as catalysts for a renewed relationship with Christ. We are offering a Sunday morning study on the book of Philippians, the Alpha course, the Cleansing Stream seminar and retreat, Cleansing Discipleship and the Lord Teach Us to Pray Silent Retreat would all be great choices to get re-established with a more disciplined approach to walking with God. It is God’s desire that He would be the first priority in each of our lives and He asks each of us to consider whether we have left our “first love.” Let us learn to fall in love all over again and then purpose to live a disciplined life that will allow for a personal relationship with God that is alive, vibrant and growing richer on a daily basis. 

I was especially intrigued by his contention in habit #7 that one had to make time to “sharpen the saw.”  In introducing the principle, he told the story of a lumberjack who was found sweating and cursing as he labored to cut down a tree.  When asked what the problem was he said, “my saw is blunt and won’t cut the tree properly.”  When it was suggested he sharpen the saw the lumberjack responded, "but then I would have to stop sawing.”  The story concludes with it being suggested the lumberjack could cut the tree more efficiently and effectively if he stopped to sharpen the saw to which he replied, “but I don’t have time to stop.”

The whole thing sounds ridiculous doesn’t it, but the point is obvious.  We many times feel like we do not have time to stop what we are doing, whatever it is, in order that we might be renewed.  So, we continue on doing what we have always done, the way we have always done it, often with diminished results.   But the wisdom of the principle is validated in the fact that every occupation and walk of life uses vacations, seminars, conferences, retreats and even extended sabbatical times so people can be renewed physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.  The belief, validated by experience, is that individuals will return rested, renewed, focused and many times equipped with new knowledge and/or skills that will enable them to be more effective at their craft.  I have had this very experience numerous times.

In keeping with this principle of personal renewal and development we are offering two “sharpen your saw’ events this summer. 

August 5th from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. GLS is bringing Bob and Cheria Guier, from the RTF Healing House Network, for an all day training event.  We will again start with worship and then Bob and Cheria will be teaching on topics designed to increase our effectiveness as RTF ministers, both Issue Focused and Thorough Format.  Together they have many years of experience doing ministry but also a vast amount of knowledge and expertise as trainers of the RTF integrated approach.  The content will be new material that supplements the core training we receive as Issue Focused and Thorough Format ministers.  It promises to be a rich and productive day.

To be a follower of Jesus Christ is to be a life-long learner.  He is constant in His attributes but His revelation is progressive and His ways change to meet the needs of His people.  I hope you will make time this summer to “sharpen your saw.”  As stated previously, registration will upon up in the coming weeks but we wanted to provide some advance notification so you can save the dates and plan to attend.  We look forward to seeing you soon.

Another customer, curious, asked, "Who's the world traveler?" Rolling his eyes, the store owner nodded toward the departing pump jockey. "Some nut who runs the gas station down the street. Thinks he's an airline pilot!" Both men got a good laugh out of that one.

It's easy to be deceived and things in life are not always as they first appear.  This is true in all walks of life but may be especially true when it comes to the life of faith.  Spiritual truth and spiritual reality are often counter intuitive and life within the kingdom of God is sometimes defined by paradox, 2 apparently conflicting truths that are resolved in a higher truth.  Truths like the Trinity, 3 Persons but 1 God, Jesus Christ fully God and yet fully man, greatness is found by humbling ourselves and fulfillment in life is not found in satisfying our every desire but in denying ourselves in order that we might take up the cross of Christ and follow Him.

Jesus was a master story teller and he would often use the objects in His immediate surroundings to teach spiritual truth.  In Luke 8:1-15 Jesus uses the imagery of a farmer sowing seed to teach about the role the Word of God plays within the kingdom of God.  It is sometimes called the parable of the sower but probably should be called the parable of the 4 soils because that is the clear focus when Jesus explains the meaning of the parable.  Before we look at the parable I want to set some context for the parable, for its interpretation and for our understanding of the importance of the kingdom of God.

We must first understand Jesus’ view of the world, that there are only 2 kingdoms, spiritually speaking, the kingdom of God (kingdom of light) and the kingdom of Satan (the kingdom of darkness).  Jesus understood, and taught, that there were only these 2 kingdoms, that these kingdoms were in conflict and that to reject the kingdom of God was to choose the kingdom of darkness.  Throughout the Gospels he said things like the following.

"No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."  (Luke 16:13)

In spite of popular opinion, there is no intermediate state where you can be kind of half in and half out.  Jesus says you are either for me or against, you are either in or you’re out.  You are either serving the kingdom of God or you are serving the kingdom of darkness, and to reject the will of God in to serve ourselves is to align ourselves with the enemy of our souls.

The remainder of my comments are about the parable itself and Jesus’ interpretation of it.  The focus of the parable is on the 4 soils and not the farmer or the seed.  This is easy to see by the fact that Jesus offers no explanation about the effectiveness of either the farmer or the quality of the various seed.  It is assumed that the farmer is doing his job properly and the seed is of good quality with the ability to grow and reproduce wherever it finds proper soil.  Jesus’ hearers would have readily recognized this fact.

In the explanation to the Matthew account we are told that the farmer (sower) is the Son of man and that the seed is the Word of God or maybe more specifically the Good News of the kingdom of God.  Luke tells us in verse 1 that soon after one of His many encounters with the Pharisees, Jesus is addressing a great crowd that has gathered from nearby towns and villages and He tells them the parable of the four soils.  He concludes the parable with the expression, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”  The expression is nothing less than an invitation to enter the kingdom of God, and to remain there by hearing God’s Word, clinging to it and patiently producing a huge harvest, up to 100 times that which was planted.

The Footpath

Jesus tells in verse 11 “that the seeds that fall on the footpath represent those who hear the message, only to have the devil come and take it away from their hearts and prevent them from believing and being saved.”  What we have here is a group of people who have heard the message, probably more than once, but because of the hardness of their hearts the word it fails to penetrate their hearts and the devil comes and steals it away.  As a result they are prevented from believing and being saved.  They remain captives in the kingdom of darkness, lost in their sins and servants of the evil one.

The problem here is two-fold.  First, there is the hardness of heart that does not allow the Word to penetrate and take root.  This is often human pride that refuses to believe in the reality of sin, their own need for a Savior and is often accompanied by a firm refusal to submit to the will and purposes of God.  This person knows what they want out of life and nobody, including God, is going to stand in their way. 

This group of people hears the message of the Good News of the kingdom of God but because of the hardness of their hearts and the work of the devil, they are prevented from believing and being saved.  They remain captives of the kingdom of darkness.

The Rocky Soil

Jesus tells us in verse 13 that, “the rocky soil represents those who hear the message with joy. But like young plants in such soil, their roots don't go very deep. They believe for a while, then they fall away when they face temptation.”

A couple of things that help us understand what is being said here.  First, this is not rocky soil like we think of we think of it where it is a mixture of good soil and rocks.  Rather, it is describing a thin layer of soil that covered a solid layer of rock or stone.  The plants would germinate and grow, looking really good above ground, but because of layer of rock they had no root system to sustain them in times when there was little or no moisture from above.

Also, there are a couple of words that we must understand if we are going to make sense of what Jesus is saying here.  The first of those words is what the NLT translates as temptation (peirasmos), it carries with the connotation of the testing or proving of one’s faith.  And the second word or words are fall away (aphistemi) are more literally “to make defection from, to revolt, or to apostatize. (AMG’s Strong’s Greek Dictionary of the New Testament).  You put that all together and you have a temptation to sin that results in a testing of one’s faith, which leads to a rejection of faith because the person was not well grounded in the Word of the Kingdom of God.

This is unfortunately the experience of many who hear the Good News of the kingdom, receive it with joy and begin their experience of faith with much zeal and enthusiasm.  But because they never really get grounded in the Word of the kingdom, when times of testing come they abandon their faith.  They never read their Bible, they never bother to study the Scriptures and as a result they never really come to know God as He is or understand how He works in the world and so when trials come, the pain, the hurt and the confusion of their circumstances bring them to reject God.  They find themselves in the same position as those who never believed, excluded from the kingdom of God.

The Thorns

The interpretation of the parable continues in verse 14 when Jesus tells us “the thorny ground represents those who hear and accept the message, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. And so they never grow into maturity.”

Jesus here touches on a familiar theme that is carried throughout Scripture namely that we are not to be preoccupied with the cares, riches and pleasures of this life for they are destined to crowd out, to smother, our experience of the kingdom of God.  There is a medical condition of the brain that affects the eyes that is called strabismus.  It is a turning out of one of the eyes so that the brain is really receiving 2 images, one from the left eye and one from the right.  The result causes many difficulties such as a lack of depth perception, especially on one side, startle reflex and a general lack of balance.

Yet it is not really an issue of the eyes but rather of the brain’s inability to integrate the 2 images into one, as happens for most of us.  To try and live with one eye on the world and one eye on the kingdom of God is a kind of spiritual strabismus that has equally disastrous results.  We must come to understand that we cannot walk with one foot in each kingdom and fulfill the purposes of God.  It creates within us an internal dissonance that leads to a lukewarm commitment to the person of Jesus Christ and life within the kingdom of God.

The Good Soil

Finally, in verse 15 Jesus describes the heart that is capable of receiving the kingdom, “but the good soil represents honest, good-hearted people who hear God's message, cling to it, and steadily produce a huge harvest.  The distinguishing characteristics of the good soil is that they hear the Word of the kingdom, they cling to it like a drowning man clings to a life preserver and then with a patient endurance, a persevering through monotony, hardships and trials and even suffering produce a huge harvest 30, 60 even 100 fold increase over that which was planted.  This in a day where a yield of 7-8 times that which was planted was considered very good.  This is a truly abundant harvest.

Consider the life of Joni Eareckson Tada, founder of Joni and Friends, an international ministry to the disabled and their families.  In 1967, at the age of 17 she was left a quadriplegic because of a diving accident.  After 2 years of rehabilitation she re-entered the community with new skills and a fresh determination to help others in similar situations.  After 42 years in wheel chair and after 3 decades as the leader of an international ministry to the disabled and their families she has:

• Personally visited 45 countries
• Authored over 35 books
• Spent months learning to paint with her teeth
• Hosts a daily 5 minute radio program that has over 1 million listeners
• Hosts a weekly television series heard around the world
• Collected 52,000 wheelchairs that were refurbished by inmates in 20 different correctional institutions and then distributed to those in need in 102 different countries
• Received 5 honorary doctorates
• Served as the presidential appointment to the National Council on Disability
• Brought courage and inspiration to millions by rejecting the temptation to sink into a life of bitterness and despair and choosing rather to be good soil that received the Good News of the kingdom of God.

In Decision, Joni Eareckson Tada writes:

Honesty is always the best policy, but especially when you're surrounded by a crowd of women in a restroom during a break at a Christian women's conference. One woman, putting on lipstick, said, "Oh, Joni, you always look so together, so happy in your wheelchair. I wish that I had your joy!" Several women around her nodded. "How do you do it?" she asked as she capped her lipstick.

"I don't do it," I said. "In fact, may I tell you honestly how I woke up this morning?"

"This is an average day," I breathed deeply. "After my husband, Ken, leaves for work at 6:00 A.M., I'm alone until I hear the front door open at 7:00 A.M. That's when a friend arrives to get me up.

"While I listen to her make coffee, I pray, 'Oh, Lord, my friend will soon give me a bath, get me dressed, sit me up in my chair, brush my hair and teeth, and send me out the door. I don't have the strength to face this routine one more time. I have no resources. I don't have a smile to take into the day. But you do. May I have yours? God, I need you desperately.'"

"So, what happens when your friend comes through the bedroom door?" one of them asked.  "I turn my head toward her and give her a smile sent straight from heaven. It's not mine. It's God's. And so," I said, gesturing to my paralyzed legs, "whatever joy you see today was hard won this morning."  I have learned that the weaker we are, the more we need to lean on God; and the more we lean on God, the stronger we discover him to be. 

Joni Eareckson Tada, "Joy Hard Won," Decision (March 2000), p.12, used by permission

The kingdom of God flourishes in a good heart, but the good heart does not happen by accident.  It takes intentionality on our part to cooperate with the Holy Spirit, receiving the Word of God with gladness.  We must learn to trust in God’s character, namely His goodness.  And we need to make right choices, choosing to do the will of God over what might be more pleasant or expedient.  Jesus says to each of us again, “he who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

As a beginning place we must remember that Psalm 103 was a part of the worship life of the people of Israel.  It is a spiritual poem that was most likely written as an expression of King David’s personal worship of Yahweh, the Lord God of Israel.  It would have been sung, maybe to musical accompaniment, and most likely carries a rhythm in the original Hebrew that gets lost in the English translation.  But more to the point it is meant to declared out loud, probably with some enthusiasm, as the worshiper reflects on the content of the psalm.  Our take away is that we don’t just memorize the words but we are declaring God’s truth for all to hear.

The psalm begins with “bless the Lord” which is literally to bend our knee before Him as an act of adoration or worship.  And we do so not with empty words but with “all that is within us” we “bless His holy name.”  As God’s covenant people we declare the relationship that we have with God the Father, through Jesus the Son, expressing our gratitude for all that represents.  From there I personalized the benefits received by substituting “my” for “your.”

As I meditate slowly over each of the benefits, I allow the Holy Spirit to highlight words and phrases bringing to my remembrance specific life events where God has fulfilled each of these benefits.  The result has been a heart overflowing with thanksgiving and gratitude.

If your heart is need of a spiritual pick me up I would highly recommend on this first 5 verse of Psalm 103.  In blessing the Lord you will in turn be blessed with a heart overflowing.  Be blessed!

In a dream I had not long ago I was attending a health and fitness conference that was sponsored by my general practitioner, who specializes in anti-aging and holistic medicine.  At this conference, there was a booth that had on display a vast array of nutritional supplements.  I remember being overwhelmed by the sheer volume of supplements and wondering how would you ever know which supplements were right for you?  In response one of the workers at the booth said “for sure you need these three amino acids” because everything else depends on these.  But there weren’t any labels on the three containers just the understanding these were essential.  With thought in mind I woke up.

I jotted enough of the dream down so I would be sure to remember it when I got up in the morning.  When I finally got up for the day I began to ask the Lord what it all meant.  I knew it was important that I had these three things in my life but I didn’t know what they were.  As I prayed about it the Lord reminded me of 1 Corinthians 13:13 and the phrase “now abide faith, hope and love, these three, but the greatest of these is love.”  Immediately in my spirit I knew that this was the correct interpretation to the dream.  God was reminding me that faith, hope and love are the building blocks of the spiritual life and must be in place if we are going to develop other beliefs, attitudes, values and behaviors that will enable us to represent the kingdom of God.

Scripture highlights the essential nature of faith in several places.  Hebrews 11:1-2 reminds us “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, conviction of things not seen” and “by it men of old gained approval.”  The apostle Paul reminds that we are called to “walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7) and “whatever is not from faith is sin” (Romans 14:23).  Likewise, hope, as an extension of faith, serves as a foundational component of life by reminding us of our future.  A future that is guaranteed by our faith in the Lord Jesus and His death and resurrection from the dead.  Jesus as our living hope has guaranteed our “inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven” (1 Peter 1:4) for us who believe.  We live with perspective and a confidence that places the events of this life in proper order.  Finally, there is love, agape love.  Jesus said loving God and loving our neighbor are the two great commandments in all of Scripture.  “On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:40).  In other words, all the teaching of Scripture can be summarized in these 2 commandments to love.

The application for all of us is a Holy Spirit check in about the development of each of these building blocks in our lives.  Am I living each day by faith, with every decision an act of faith?  Is my hope grounded in the death and resurrection of Jesus and the promise of my future inheritance?  And finally, does love characterize my relationship with God and others?  The fullness of our spiritual lives depends on the vitality of each of these building blocks.  Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to grow them in us in order that we might continue to multiply our experience of the abundant life.  

Anyone who has read the apostle Paul’s letters to the churches is familiar with his teaching on the spiritual warfare that attends the Christian life.  He makes it clear there really is a fallen angel, Lucifer, who hates Jesus and His followers, and is doing everything He can to disrupt their lives.  Jesus described the devil’s activities as robbing, killing and destroying (John 10:10) and that activity gets experienced by us in different ways.  Ultimately, the devil, and his demons, seek to prevent people from experiencing salvation but if they are unsuccessful there, they will do whatever they can to make us miserable and unproductive.  Most of us are all too familiar with this reality of the Christian life.

What isn’t always as apparent is the various ways that the enemy comes against us.  In the verse quoted above Paul uses the word “schemes” or “devices” to suggest there are multiple strategies the devil and his minions use to come against us.  In addition, Dr. Jack Hayford reminds us in his message “Devised for Your Defeat” these schemes are tailor made for us, reflecting our personal weaknesses.  Put it all together and it is easy to see how important it is that we are not “ignorant” (literally without knowledge) of his schemes so that he is not able to take advantage of us.

All of this was brought to my attention again as I was reflecting on the drift (apathy) we sometimes experience in both life and ministry.  It’s a kind of spiritual malaise that anesthetizes us and renders us motionless.  We aren’t doing anything sinful or rebellious but we aren’t really engaged either.  We are just kind of floating along without any clear sense of purpose.  I don’t think most of us would connect this with a spiritual attack of the enemy but I believe that often it is the result of the devil taking advantage of our ignorance of his schemes.  When we are attacked directly through the words and actions of others or through adverse circumstances it is easy to recognize the connection to the devil’s activity.  But when he whispers in our ear a believable lie that diminishes the significance of God’s activity in our lives or the importance of the task God has given us, we don’t always make the connection.  Our ignorance makes us vulnerable.

All of this highlights the importance of Paul’s admonition later in the letter when he exhorts us to “take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).  The enemy knows our strengths, weaknesses and the seasons where we are vulnerable to specific kinds of attacks.  Sometimes it is a direct frontal attack meant to intimidate and discourage, other times he comes in through the back door with a whisper of a lie that takes us out of the game.  He is equally pleased to use either tactic.

Where are you today?  Are you fully engaged in life and your calling?  Or has the enemy taken advantage of you?  In the power of the Holy Spirit God enables us to stand if we put on His armor and listen to His voice.  Let us make a commitment to have the Holy Spirit show us all the ways the enemy seeks to come against us and render us ineffective.  If we do, Jesus will once again lead us into the abundant life He died to give us.

In spite of this persistent and pervasive influence, people know intuitively when they stop to think about it, that the real treasures in life cannot be purchased and do not carry monetary value.  I think of the gifts of life, good health, a sound mind, godly parents, freedom, opportunity, genuine friendships, loving spouses and children and helpful neighbors.  On the spiritual side of life there are the gifts of faith, love, grace, the Word of God, church family, godly church leaders, spiritual gifts and maybe most importantly the gift of the Holy Spirit, who is “the pledge of our inheritance.”  None can be purchased with money, and only a few earned with hard work and sacrifice, the remainder are constant reminders of the goodness of God in a world gone astray. 

God is the original giver of gifts.  Gift giving was His idea.  He gives because it is His nature to give.  He gives to us because He loves us.  The ultimate gift, the gift of all gifts, was God giving His only Son, Jesus Christ.  At Christmas time we acknowledge, celebrate and receive His gifts with gratitude and thanksgiving.  In addition, we express our love for others through the giving of gifts.  It is not the kind of gift, or its monetary value that is important but rather the love, thought and intention with which gifts are given and received.  In our giving and receiving of gifts this Christmas, let us remember what is truly important in life and the reasons why we give and receive gifts.  Doing so will bring new joy to the entire holiday season. Have a Blessed Christmas and New Year’s holiday.

I was reminded the other day of another truth that shapes our experience of the abundant life that is both simple to understand and yet more challenging to apply.  The truth I am thinking of is a more specific application of the paradoxical reality that is expressed in the tension between God’s sovereignty and our responsibility.  Said in a different way there are certain things that remain exclusively within God’s domain, such as salvation, healing, sanctification and the ordering of world events.  We cannot save anyone, heal anyone, or control the unfolding of human history.  God has declared this is His domain and He doesn’t take kindly to us trying to usurp His authority.  The temptation to be like God is what got Lucifer and then Adam and Eve into trouble, and subsequently pushed all of humanity into the mess we are in.  I would argue it is a temptation that plagues us as well.  The other side of all this is God has charged us with the responsibility to grow in maturity and to become more like Jesus.  He has commanded that we practice certain spiritual disciplines, adopt a particular set of beliefs and values and walk in obedience to His commands.  The terms of the covenant relationship that we have with God promise that as we do our part God will be faithful to do His part.

How this plays out, and how we many times end up in trouble or frustrated, is we don’t always discern properly what is God’s domain and what He has made our responsibility.  If for example, we are praying for a loved one to be saved or a friend to be healed, we can drift into the belief that if we pray hard enough, long enough, with enough fervency and faith, with the right kind of prayers that we can convince God to do what we ask.  The underlying assumption is that we know what is right and maybe even know better than God what is the best outcome for this particular situation.  In other words, we try and take God’s place in deciding who should be saved and who should be healed, decisions He has clearly reserved for Himself.  Desiring, or assuming, this level of control is both futile and exhausting.

Maturity on the other hand, growing up to be Christ like men and women, is clearly our responsibility.  Often we pray that God will change other people and our circumstances to make the frustration or pain go away.  But what God desires, and the reason for which we are experiencing the circumstances in the first place, is that we grow in maturity and fruitfulness to the point that we can actually love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44).  When we are in this position we are asking, sometimes begging, God to do something He is never going to do because He expects us to grow in maturity.

If you find yourself frustrated, tired or even angry about your relationship with God you may want to ask yourself, “is this issue God’s domain or my responsibility?”  When we try and take God’s place we will find that we have God as our opposition rather than our advocate.  And when we shirk our responsibility for growth in maturity we will find that circumstances are slow to change.  God desires that we live the abundant life, where we experience the blessing and resultant joy that comes when He moves sovereignly with authority and power in our lives.  But He won’t do it at the expense of our growing in maturity and fruitfulness for our benefit and the advancement of His kingdom.  Realign yourself with this important truth and you will grow in your experience of the abundant life Jesus promised and died to give us.

Now technically we know that his assertion is theologically incorrect because there is nowhere that God is not present. The psalmist writes in Psalm 139:7-10, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to the heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there Your hand will lead me and Your right hand will lay hold of me.” Further we know that the Spirit of God indwells every believer (1 Corinthians 3:16) and so God is present with us always.

However, I believe his comment does speak to a very important issue in the life of our church today, our experience of God in worship. I am not talking about feelings and emotions necessarily, though worship often stirs our emotions. Rather, I am talking about a life-changing encounter with the living God that comes to us as we confess our sins, offer our praise, receive His Word and pray for the needs of His people and the world. I am talking about the purity of heart that comes about as we acknowledge our dependence upon God, confess our faith, receive His forgiveness and live a life of love with Jesus as Lord of the church.

As I listened to my friend I was reminded of two passages of Scripture that possibly address his experience. First, there is the confrontation that Jesus had with the scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 15:1-20 because they had put their own traditions before the commandments of God. Their own interpretations and applications of God’s commands had become so important to them, twisted and self serving though they were, that Jesus rebukes them in verses 7-9 by quoting from the prophet Isaiah, “You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’” The Lord had pronounced His judgment upon Israel, through the prophet Isaiah, for having an outward form of worship that had been reduced to the recitation of words by rote memory and was totally disconnected from the heart. Jesus applies this same proclamation to the scribes and Pharisees for having allowed the external rituals of washing their hands and keeping the Sabbath to take priority over matters of the heart. “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man” (Matthew 15:19-20a).

The second passage comes from Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well in John chapter 4 where Jesus reminds her that that genuine worship is not about place but rather is a matter of the heart. “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:23-24). Once again the emphasis is on worship or devotion that issues from the heart and is in agreement with the commandments of God or the truth of God (Word of God). Our tendency often is to drift into a lifeless formalism that relies upon external rituals and traditions and ignores the greater issues of a heart that is right before God. We prefer activities that make us look and feel good rather than dealing with our sin and acknowledging our dependence upon God. Therefore, it is not only possible, but easy to go to the same place of worship, to sit in the same pew, to sing familiar hymns and choruses, to recite confessions of sin and of faith, to pray the Lord’s prayer and to receive the Lord’s Supper and never truly worship God. Disturbing but true.

Perhaps it is time to consider once again Jesus as Emmanuel, God with us, and what that truth means for a lifestyle of worship. To meditate prayerfully over the invitation of the Lord from Joel 2:12-13, “‘Yet even now’, declares the Lord. ‘Return to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, weeping and mourning; and rend your heart and not your garments.’ Now return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in loving-kindness.”

Let us be careful to guard our hearts so that we do not fall into the sins of the scribes and the Pharisees, allowing our hearts to grow cold toward the things of God. Let us encourage one another in these things as we gather for corporate worship that we might have the same experience as Jacob who declared in Genesis 28:16, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.”

I have heard him recount many times how he knew early on that the only way for the ministry to grow, and for him to survive, was to train leaders who could also do the work of the ministry. Thus began his emphasis on the establishment of small groups and 1x1 mentoring ministry. God used (and is using even now) Pastor Jack, and others, to bring renewal to the Lutheran Church in Brazil, a continuing movement that has seen several generations of Brazilians come to personal faith in Jesus Christ. 

Jack knew (suspected) that there were many attending the church who did not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. So he preached a Gospel message and gave an invitation for the people to respond in faith. But there was no response. The next week he preached the same message and again the next week. After the 3^rd week of hearing the same message, one of the elders of the church confronted him. He demanded to know why he kept preaching the same message each week and if he intended to ever preach on anything else. Jack responded by saying that he was indeed ready to preach on other important matters of faith as soon as they had responded in faith to the person of Jesus Christ. One cannot build until the proper foundation has been laid down. 

I have reflected on the significance of this encounter many times and have often thought about how this principle might apply to our churches today. While it is true that many within our churches have a personal relationship with Jesus, what about those that don’t? I think especially of the children? Luke 15 demonstrates Jesus’ heart and concern for even “the one” who was lost. Then there is the matter of the many who have deluded themselves by becoming “hearers only” and not doers of the Word (James 1:22-23). People clamor for new truth, new insight and new understanding of the Word without any thought given to living out the truth they already understand. We dare not assume that people have understood or will respond in obedience.

One of the great opportunities for us in the church today is to bring people back to the basics of “trust and obey.” I am thinking specifically to bring people to assurance of their salvation and then create an environment where they seek to observe (live out) the basic instructions of God. We can, and should, teach the whole counsel of God but unless the proper foundation has been laid it will bear little fruit. Let us together join in the Great Commission mandate of making disciples by teaching them to observe all that the Lord has commanded us.

On Sunday, April 5, 2015, we will celebrate once again the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Throughout America there will be sunrise services, Easter breakfasts, dramatic re-enactments, magnificent choirs and thousands of messages proclaiming the importance of one of the most significant events in all of world history, Jesus Christ raised from the dead in accordance with the Scriptures. Yet for many that message, and its varied applications, will be forgotten by the end of the day and it will be back to the normal routine on Monday morning. Resurrection Sunday will be but a distant memory.

Pastors and longtime church members will identify with the truthfulness of these remarks, as they have lived them many times.  But the obvious question is why does this happen? How is it that people can hear the Good News of the Gospel and remain indifferent or reject outright Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? 

It has been suggested that to know God as He truly is, is to love Him. In other words, it is impossible to know God accurately and completely and not love Him. In a like way, I believe people reject Jesus, and His claims upon their lives, because they do not really know Him.. Their understanding of Jesus is distorted and/or incomplete. I would add to that they do not fully appreciate their own condition, as fully incapable of meeting God’s standard for righteousness, and the consequences of their refusal to believe in a personal devil and a literal hell. Only when we know God as He truly is, understand our true condition apart from Him and acknowledge the results of our choices can we make good decisions.

In a classic "Twilight Zone" episode from 1960, an American on a walking trip through central Europe gets caught in a raging storm. Staggering through the blinding rain, he chances upon an imposing medieval castle. It is a hermitage for a brotherhood of monks. The reclusive monks reluctantly take him in.

Later that night, the American discovers a cell with a man locked inside. An ancient wooden staff bolts the door. The prisoner claims he is being held captive by the "insane" head monk, Brother Jerome. He pleads for the American to release him. The prisoner's kindly face and gentle voice win him over. The American confronts Brother Jerome, who declares that the prisoner is actually none other than Satan, "the father of lies," held captive by the Staff of Truth, the one barrier he cannot pass.

This incredible claim convinces the American that Jerome is indeed mad. As soon as he gets the chance, he releases the prisoner—who immediately transforms into a hideous, horned demon and vanishes in a puff of smoke! The stunned American is horrified at the realization of what he has done. Jerome responds sympathetically. "I'm sorry for you, my son. All your life you will remember this night and whom you have turned loose upon the world." "I didn't believe you," the American replies. "I saw him and didn't recognize him"—to which Jerome solemnly observes, "That is man's weakness…and Satan's strength." (Kevin Stump, The Plain Truth, (Mar/Apr 2001)

Hitchcock’s dramatization of the American’s encounter with the devil is just one of thousands of representations that have left the undiscerning American confused and reluctant to take seriously any discussion of a personal devil. Yet, there is as breadth of life experience that validates the Bible’s teaching on the existence of hell and the torment that awaits those who go there.

In his book, To Hell and Back, Maurice Rawlings M.D., writes of his experience as a cardiologist at the University of Tennessee. In the course of their emergency room work, Dr. Rawlings and his colleagues interviewed more than 300 people who claimed near-death experiences. What made Rawlings' study distinct is that the interviews were not conducted months or years later but immediately after the experiences had allegedly occurred—while the patients were still too shaken up in the immediacy of the moment to gloss over or to re-imagine what they had experienced.

Nearly 50 percent of them reported encountering images of fire, of tormented and tormenting creatures, and other sights hailing from a place very different from heaven. In follow-up interviews much later many of these same people had changed their stories, apparently unwilling to admit to their families, maybe even to themselves, that they had caught a glimpse of something like what the Bible calls hell. Dr. Rawlings concludes, "Just listening to these patients has changed my life. There is a life after death, and if I don't know where I'm going, it is not safe to die.” (Daniel Meyer, Preaching Today)

Healthy people may think that it is nice that there is a cure for cancer but those that have cancer want all the details about the cure, including where to sign up for treatment. For most Americans the resurrection of Jesus is a nice bit of information but of little personal interest because they are unaware of their spiritual cancer and its consequences. We would do well this Easter Sunday to remind people of their true spiritual condition apart from Jesus, and the fate that awaits those who remain indifferent to the Gospel, before we proclaim the glory of the Resurrection. In doing so the Resurrection of Jesus will become a truth worth remembering every day of the year.

In January of 1986 my dad had a massive stroke that left him paralyzed on his right side and without the ability to speak. It was to be my introduction to the world of heart disease and the devastating effects of what are sometimes called the silent killers of hypertension, stroke and heart attacks. In general, these conditions are either created, or exacerbated, by a poor diet and a lack of aerobic exercise. They are called silent because they most often go undetected until it is too late.

Over the years, I have discovered a kind of spiritual heart disease that is also created by a poor diet and a lack of exercise. And it too is often a silent killer. This is because we either don’t recognize its existence or consider it to be a natural part of the human condition. Therefore we don’t do anything about it. In any case, we seldom realize the devastating effects that it has on our faith and our ministry to others.

Doubt is the heart disease that I have in mind here. We know that we are called to live by faith, trusting in the character and promises of God, but doubt always seems to rise up, especially in the midst of adversity. The discovery part for me took place when I looked back in my own life and saw how tolerant I had become of doubting the Word of God. It was almost like I believed that there wasn’t any way to live without some level of doubt and that God didn’t really expect me to be completely free of doubt. It was a belief that I had never articulated but it existed nonetheless.

Over the next couple of weeks the Lord took me through some verses that have really helped me in my battle with doubt and unbelief. The journey began in Mark 11:22-24 when Jesus tells His disciples, “Have faith in God. Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it shall be granted him. Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they shall be granted you.” It is clear from what Jesus says here that it is not only possible for us to believe without any doubting but that doubt puts the answers to our prayers in jeopardy.

This truth is reinforced, and amplified, by the brother of Jesus in James 1:5-8 when the apostle James writes, “if any of your lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all men generously, without reproach. But let him ask in faith, without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man expect to receive anything from the Lord, being a double minded man, unstable in all his ways.” No doubt James had heard Jesus teach on, and then demonstrate the power of, having faith in God and he tells us that when we are walking in doubt we should not expect to receive anything from God. Though hard to hear, this admonition brings to mind the words of Hebrews 11:6, “and without faith it is impossible to please God.”

For many of us who battle doubt and unbelief these words of Jesus and the apostle are difficult to receive because we know that we are not able, in ourselves, to believe and not doubt, especially when living through the storms of life. In His grace, the Holy Spirit brought to mind another passage of Scripture. It came from Matthew 14:22-33 and it is the account where Jesus walks on the water and invites Peter to get out of the boat and join him on the water. “And Peter answered Him and said, ‘Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water. And He said, ‘Come.’ And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But seeing the wind, he became afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, ‘Lord, save me.’  And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

The contrast is clear as crystal. When Peter responded in faith (believing that if Jesus commanded him to come that he could walk on water), he was in fact able to walk on water. But as soon as he took his eyes off of Jesus and looked at the wind (and the waves) he became afraid (doubted) and began to sink. In practical terms this means that we must have a good spiritual diet and we must enter into opportunities to exercise our faith. We must become people of praise and thanksgiving who recognize that Jesus is the answer for every situation in life. We need to meditate day and night on the Word of God (Joshua 1:8) and allow God build our faith in His goodness, His faithfulness and His ability to answer our prayers. We must avoid filling our minds with the values, beliefs and discontent of our culture that comes with watching hours of television, reading newspapers and surfing the Internet. Finally, we need to get out of the boat, where life is comfortable and secure, and we need to respond to the invitation of Jesus to walk on the water. May we together grow in our trust for Jesus and His word, leaving no place for doubt, a silent but ruthless enemy of our faith.

What kind of memories does the singing of that song bring back for you? Have you reflected on the meaning of the words of this great hymn which speak of the virgin birth, the deity of Jesus and the transforming power of Christ in the lives of all those who believe? To sing this great hymn of the faith, while reflecting upon its meaning, is to align ourselves with our true purpose in life as ambassadors for Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 5:20). During the season of Advent we have a special opportunity to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ, not only that He has been born a child in Bethlehem some 2000 years ago, but that Jesus is coming again very soon to claim those who belong to Him and to sentence those who have rejected His offer of eternal life. 

For the most part, the people in our world move along in life oblivious to the fact that they are moving ever closer to a cataclysmic life event. Unlike the many calamities the media warn us about that never materialize, the Second Coming of Christ is both certain and imminent. Jesus offers sound counsel to His disciples while sitting on the Mount of Olives when He tells them the story of the 10 bridesmaids who went out to meet the bridegroom. Five were considered wise because they brought extra oil for their lamps, while the remaining five were considered foolish because their lamps were out of oil when the bridegroom appeared. In a summary statement Jesus tells His disciples, “so stay awake and be prepared, because you do not know the day or hour of My return” (Matthew 25:13, NLT). Our task and privilege this Christmas season is to help others prepare for the Lord’s return by calling them to repentance and faith. We know that the significance of the Christmas season is not found in the giving and receiving of gifts but in remembering the birth of Jesus the Christ-child and in preparing ourselves for His return. However, many who are close to us have yet to make a personal profession of faith and are unprepared for Christ’s return. By God’s grace, let us make the most of every opportunity that He provides for us to share the Christmas story with others and with the angelic host sing, “Glory to the newborn King!”

I have heard him recount many times how he knew early on that the only way for the ministry to grow, and for him to survive, was to train leaders who could also do the work of the ministry. Thus began his emphasis on the establishment of small groups and personal mentoring ministry. God used (and is using even now) Pastor Jack, and others, to bring renewal to the Lutheran Church in Brazil, a continuing movement that has seen several generations of Brazilians come to personal faith in Jesus Christ and grow as disciples who are representing Him to the world. 

Jack knew (suspected) that there were many attending the church who did not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. So he preached a Gospel message and gave an invitation for the people to respond in faith. But there was no response. The next week he preached the same message and again the next week. After the 3^rd week of hearing the same message, one of the elders of the church confronted him. He demanded to know why he kept preaching the same message each week and if he intended to ever preach on anything else. Jack responded by saying that he was indeed ready to preach on other important matters of faith as soon as they had responded in faith to the person of Jesus Christ. One cannot build until the proper foundation has been laid.

I have reflected on the significance of this encounter many times and have often thought about how this principle might apply to my life and ministry today. While it is true that many, maybe even most, within our churches have a personal relationship with Jesus, the majority are not experiencing the fullness of life that God has for them. And what about those that have never personally experienced the forgiveness of God, especially the children? Luke 15 demonstrates Jesus’ heart and concern for even “the one” who was lost. Then there is the matter of the many who have deluded themselves by becoming “hearers only” and not doers of the Word (James 1:22-23). People clamor for new truth, new insight and new understanding of the Word without any thought given to living out the truth they already understand. We dare not assume that people have understood or will respond in obedience.

One of the great opportunities for us as followers of Christ is to bring people back to the basics of “trust and obey.” To bring people to assurance of their salvation and then create an environment where they are encouraged to observe (live out) the basic commandments of God and thus fulfill the law of Christ We can, and should, teach the whole counsel of God but unless the proper foundation has been laid it will bear little fruit. Let us work together to bring people into an authentic experience of the Father’s love, help them respond in personal faith and then teach to observe all that the Lord has commanded us. Freedom and the resultant fullness of life is not found in living however we please but in understanding and embracing the teachings and principles that govern life in the Kingdom of God.